Of the Buildings of Justinian

by Procopius

VII. The above are the works of the Emperor Justinian in this part of Mesopotamia; I must speak in this place of Edessa, Carrhæ, Callinicum, and all the other strong places which are in that country, since they lie between the two rivers. Edessa[43] stands on the banks of a small stream called Scirtus, which collects its waters from many places, and runs through the midst of the city: from thence it passes onwards, after having supplied the wants of the city, effecting its entrance and exit through by a channel constructed by former generations, which passes through the city walls. This river once, after much rain, rose to a great height, and seemed as though it would destroy the city; it tore down a large part of the outworks and of the walls, inundated almost the whole city, and did much damage, suddenly destroying the finest buildings, and drowning a third part of the inhabitants. The Emperor Justinian not only at once restored all the buildings of the city which were overthrown, among which were the church of the Christians and a building called Antiphorus, but also arranged with great care that no such disaster should ever again occur, for he made a new channel for the river, outside the city walls, which he arranged in the following manner. The ground on the right bank of the river was formerly flat and low-lying, while that on the left was a precipitous mountain, which did not allow the river to turn aside from its accustomed course, but forced it to flow into the city, because when flowing towards the city it met with no obstacle on its right bank. He therefore dug away the whole of this mountain, making a channel on the left bank of the river deeper than its former bed, and built on the right bank an enormous wall of stones, as large as a waggon could carry, so that if the river ran as usual with a moderate volume the city would not be deprived of the convenience of its water; but if it should be swollen into a flood a moderate stream would run as usual throughout the city, but the excess of water would be forced into this channel constructed by Justinian, and thus extraordinarily conquered by human art and skill might run round the back of the race-course, which is situated not far off. Moreover he forced the river within the city to run in a straight course, by building a wall above it on either side, so that it could not turn out of a straight path; by which means he both preserved the use of it for the city, and removed all fear of it for the future. The wall and outwork of Edessa, like those of the other places, had for the most part fallen into ruins through age; wherefore the Emperor restored them both, making them new and much stronger than they were before. Part of the wall of Edessa is occupied by a fort, outside of which rises a hill very close to the city and overhanging it; this hill was in ancient times occupied by the inhabitants, and included in their walls by an outwork, that it might not form a weak point to the city. Their work, however, made the city much more open to assault in that quarter; for their outwork was very low, built on an exposed site, and could be taken even by children playing at sieges. Justinian therefore took it down and built another wall on the top of the hill, which is in no danger of an assault from higher ground in any quarter, and which follows the slope of the hill down to the level ground on both sides, and joins the city wall.[44]

EDESSA.
From Texier & Pullan’s Byzantine Architecture
COLUMNS ON A TERRACE OF THE CASTLE.

Also at the cities of Carrhæ[45] and Callinicum[46] he destroyed the walls and outworks, which were much impaired by age, and rendered them impregnable by building the present complete fortifications; he also built a strong wall round the unprotected and neglected fort at Batnæ,[47] and gave it the fine appearance which it now presents.

VIII. These, as I have said before, were the works of the Emperor Justinian in Mesopotamia and Osrhoene. I will now describe what was done on the right bank of the river Euphrates. In all other parts the Roman and Persian frontiers border upon one another, and each nation proceeds from its own country to make war and peace with the other, as all men of different habits and empires do when they have a common frontier; but in the province which was formerly called Commagene, which is now called Euphratesia, they dwell nowhere near to one another, for the Roman and Persian frontiers are widely parted by a country which is quite desert and devoid of life, and possesses nothing worth fighting for. Yet each nation, though not regarding it as a work of much importance, has built a chain of forts of unbaked brick where the desert borders upon their inhabited country. None of these forts have ever been assaulted by their neighbours, but the two nations dwell there without any ill-feeling, since there is nothing for either of them to covet; however, the Emperor Diocletian built three of these forts in this desert, one of which, named Mambri, had fallen into ruin through age, and was restored by the Emperor Justinian.

About five miles from this fort, as you go towards the Roman country, Zenobia, the wife of Odenathus, the chief of the Saracens in those parts, built a small city in former times and gave it her own name, calling it Zenobia.[48] Since then, long lapse of time brought its walls to ruin, and as the Romans did not think it worth caring for, it became entirely uninhabited. Thus the Persians, whenever they chose, were able to place themselves in the midst of the Romans before any news had been heard of their coming; however, the Emperor Justinian rebuilt the whole of Zenobia, filled it with numerous inhabitants, placed in it a commander with a garrison of regular soldiers, and thus formed a powerful fortress, a bulwark of the Roman Empire and a check upon the Persians. He did not merely restore it to its former appearance, but made it far stronger than it was before. The place is closely surrounded by high cliffs, from which the enemy were formerly able to shoot down upon the heads of the defenders of the wall; being desirous to avoid this, he constructed a building upon the walls, on the side nearest these cliffs, which might always act as a protection to the defenders. This building is called a ‘wing,’ because it appears to hang upon the wall. Indeed, it is not possible to describe all that our Emperor built at Zenobia: for as the city is situated far away in the desert, and for this reason is always exposed to peril, and cannot derive any succour from the Romans, who dwell at a distance, he took the greatest pains to render it secure. I will now relate some few of his works there.

Zenobia stands beside the river Euphrates, which flows close to its walls on the eastern side. This river, surrounded by high mountains, has no space in which to extend itself, but its stream is confined among the neighbouring mountains and between its rugged banks. Whenever it is swollen by rain into a flood, it pours against the city wall and washes not merely against its foundations but as high as its very battlements. The courses of stone in the walls, drenched by this stream, became disarranged, and the whole construction was endangered; he, however, constructed a mole of enormous masses of hard rock, of the same length as the wall, and forced the flooded river to expend its rage in vain, setting the wall free from any fear of injury, however high the river might swell. Finding that the city wall upon the northern side had become ruinous from age, he razed it to the ground, together with its outwork, and rebuilt it, but not upon its former site, because the houses of the city were so crowded together at that point as to inconvenience the inhabitants; but he proceeded beyond the foundations of the wall, beyond the outwork and the ditch itself, and there built an admirable and singularly beautiful wall, thus greatly enlarging Zenobia in this quarter. There was, moreover, a certain hill which stood near the city towards the west, from which the barbarians, when they made their attacks, were able to shoot with impunity down upon the heads of the defenders, and even of those who were standing in the midst of the city; this hill the Emperor Justinian surrounded with a wall on both sides, and thus included it in the city of Zenobia, afterwards escarping its sides throughout, so that no enemy could ascend it. He also built another fort upon the top of the hill, and thus rendered it altogether inaccessible to those who wished to assault the city, for beyond the hill the ground sinks into a hollow valley, and therefore it cannot be closely approached by the enemy; above this hollow valley the mountains at once rise on the western side. The Emperor did not merely watch over the safety of the city, but also built churches in it, and barracks for the soldiers: he also constructed public baths and porticos. All this work was carried out under the superintendence of the architects Isidorus and Joannes, of whom Joannes was a Byzantine, and Isidorus a Milesian by birth, being the nephew of that Isidorus whom I mentioned before. Both of these were young men, but showed an energy beyond their years, and both displayed equal zeal in the works which they constructed for the Emperor.

IX. After Zenobia was the city of Suri,[49] situated on the river Euphrates, whose fortifications were so contemptible that when Chosroes assaulted it, it did not hold out for so much as half-an-hour, but was instantly taken by the Persians. This fort, however, like Callinicum, was restored by the Emperor Justinian, who surrounded it with a strong wall, strengthened it with an outwork, and enabled it for the future to resist the attack of the enemy, There is in Euphratesia a church dedicated to Sergius, an eminent saint, whom the ancients so admired and looked up to that they named the place Sergiopolis,[50] and surrounded it with a low rampart, sufficient to prevent the Saracens in that region from capturing it by assault; for the Saracens are by nature incapable of attacking walls, and consequently the weakest mud wall is sufficient to resist their onset. In later times this church received so many offerings as to become powerful and famous throughout the land. The Emperor Justinian, reflecting upon these matters, at once applied himself to its protection, surrounded it with a most admirable wall, and provided a quantity of water, stored up in reservoirs, for the use of its inhabitants; besides this, he built in the place houses and porticos, and all the other buildings which are regarded as the ornaments of a city. He also placed a garrison of soldiers in it to defend the walls in time of need; and, indeed, Chosroes, the King of Persia, who determined to take the city, and who brought up a large army to besiege it, was compelled to raise the siege, being overcome by the strength of the walls.

The Emperor spent equal care upon all the towns and forts on the borders of Euphratesia, (namely) Barbalissus,[51] Neocæsarea, Gabula, Pentacomia, which is on the Euphrates, and Europus.[52] At Hemerius, finding the walls built in some parts carelessly and dangerously, and in some parts formed only of mud, while the place was deficient in water-supply and consequently despicable as a fortification, he razed them to the ground, and at once carefully rebuilt them of courses of the hardest stone, making the wall much wider and higher than before. He also constructed reservoirs for water in all parts of the works, all of which he filled with rain-water, and, placing a garrison there, he rendered the place as powerful and secure as we now see it. Indeed, if one were carefully to consider this, and to inspect all the other good works of the Emperor Justinian, one would say it was for this alone that he had received the crown, by the manifest favour of God, who watches over the Roman people.